How It All Began
by Stephanie18
Summary: Zack's mother meets a blonde woman that seems nice enough, and she's willing to take her unwanted child. A take on the creation of Manticore and how the first X-5s were "made.".


How It All Began  
  
Disclaimer: Titanic Man beat me to it, what can I say?  
  
A/N: I had just scrapped a Zack POV and this popped into my head. Nice replacement if you ask me. The POV was a little choppy... Anyway, lets move on to the story.  
  
A/N 2: This is in the POV of Zack's mother. When she sees an Eyes Only broadcast about Manticore, she realizes what she had done.  
  
  
  
Zack's mother's POV  
  
  
  
Hell, I was only nineteen at the time. I wasn't ready for my own puppy, let alone a baby. I was a party girl and that's where I begin to regret things. I mean, a quickie with a cute guy in the back of the club seemed like a good idea at the time. I didn't even know his name and I only saw him once. And I had something to show for it. A baby.  
  
Needless to say, my parents were furious. They told me to come back when I had gotten rid of the "dirty little thing." I left and never went back. I didn't need them thinking my child was the family's dirty little secret.  
  
One afternoon I was walking down the street, crying away, when a black SUV with tinted windows pulled up next to me. The window rolled down and a woman with incredibly short blonde hair was smiling at me. I just stared.  
  
"I'm sorry, but my husband and I couldn't help but notice you crying." She said and gestured to a man in the driver's seat. He looked like he had permanent bitter beer face. He smiled at me and she continued talking. "We just can't help but stopping and checking to see if everyone's alright."  
  
For some reason, I felt like I could tell that woman anything. There was something in her eyes that said, "Trust me." I know now that her eyes lied to me.  
  
"My parents kicked me out." I told her. Her smile turned into a frown.  
  
"Do you have anywhere to stay?" She asked.  
  
"Well, no." I told her.  
  
"My husband and I are involved with a new organization called Manticore." She told me. "It helps troubled teens."  
  
"I don't think you'd be too interested in me." I told her. "I'm pregnant."  
  
Her frown deepened and she seemed quite interested. I thought it was because she gave a damn.  
  
"Well then," She said. "We especially want to help you then."  
  
Her husband then handed her a business card, which she then handed to me. It read:  
  
Manticore  
Helping those in need  
1450 Mercer Street  
  
I looked back at her and she was smiling again.  
  
"The phones haven't been connected yet." She told me. "We just moved into that building."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Well," She said. "You just think about it and if you want, just come on down."  
  
"I think I will." I told her. She smiled, said good-bye, then rolled up the window and they drove off.  
  
I walked more and more that afternoon until I started feeling weak. I hadn't eaten. I sighed and reached into my pocket (I had a candy bar to tide me over) but what I pulled out of my pocket wasn't a candy bar; it was the business card.  
  
I saw that I was only about four blocks from Mercer Street, so I decided to give Manticore a little visit.  
  
*****  
  
I walked through the door, expecting stares and whispers, but everyone was too busy to notice me. That was of course was just like the house I had been raised in. I suppose that's why I became a party girl: attention.  
  
When I noticed the blonde woman talking to a man in a labcoat, I wasn't sure if I should say something to her or just go to the front desk. I didn't have to wait long for a decision. She signed a paper for the man in the lab coat, then saw me and came over.  
  
"I'm glad that you decided to come." She said.  
  
"I didn't have anywhere else to go." I told her.  
  
"Well then, I think you would be quite comfortable on the fourth floor." She said.  
  
"What's on the fourth floor?" I asked.  
  
"Well," She explained. "Here at Manticore we like to put groups together. It helps with our paperwork, you see. It also helps so we can get doctors especially for one group. The fourth floor is the pregnancy ward. I'll have Donald take you up."  
  
She took a cellphone from her jacket and pushed three numbers. After a minute or two, the man with the permanent bitter beer face walked toward us.  
  
"Donald, would you take her up to the fourth floor?"  
  
"Of course." Donald said and smiled at me. "This way."  
  
I followed him through the lobby area and up four different staircases. We finally reached a door with a large number four painted over it. Donald opened the door and I walked in. I heard the door shut behind me. It was now clear to me that Donald was not coming in with me.  
  
I looked around nervously. There were about nineteen other girls, but none of them looked as pregnant as I was. The room was large, but was still quite cramped for nineteen girls to be in. There were enough beds for everyone though and nobody seemed to be bored.  
  
"Hey, newbie."  
  
I turned and saw a Hispanic girl who looked about my age. I pointed to myself and mouthed, 'Me?'  
  
"I don't see any other newbies." She said with a smile. "Come over here. The bed next to me is empty."  
  
I went over and sat on the empty bed. I pushed down on it to see how comfortable it was. It was soft, like I wasn't the first to occupy it.  
  
"Welcome to Manticore." The girl said with a smile. "I'm Zoe."  
  
"I'm Angie."  
  
"Well, Angie," Zoe said. "How did you manage to end up here?"  
  
"My parents kicked me out." I told her.  
  
"I don't have parents." Zoe said. "At first I was on the first floor, the abandoned floor, but I left. Then Donald found me and convinced me to come back and I ended up on the second floor, the runaway floor. Of course, being a runaway, I ran. Again Donald convinced me to come back, but when I came back, I was with company. So here I am."  
  
"Um, why is this bed empty?" I asked, being the curious person that I was.  
  
"The girl that was there had a miscarriage." Zoe said. "They told us that she asked to leave and she got what she asked for."  
  
Zoe was a very interesting person. She introduced me to everyone and everything went great.  
  
That is, until I reached month nine.  
  
*****  
  
It was just a normal day for all of us on the fourth floor. Well, except for the fact that I and five others had hit the ninth month.  
  
The door opened and the blonde woman, who I had learned month's earlier was called Renfro, stepped into the room. She wasn't alone. She was with Lydecker and two men that looked like SWAT team members.  
  
"All those that have reached month nine, come with us." Renfro said.  
  
I gave Zoe a nervous look, then we hugged and promised to find each other after it was all over. We never did. The five other girls and I walked slowly to the door, then followed Renfro, Lydecker, and the SWAT wannabes out.  
  
Lydecker locked the door, then we all made our way down the four staircases of hell (as they had become to be known). Instead of leaving through the front door, we went through the back where a black van was waiting for us. We all looked at each other and silently agreed that we did not like the situation.  
  
Lydecker opened the back doors of the van and pointed. The SWAT wannabes helped us each in, then Lydecker slammed the doors. We heard muffled voices, then Renfro, Lydecker, and one of the SWATs got in the front. Just before the SWAT wannabe started the engine, Renfro turned to us in the back and said:  
  
"You girls have no idea how great of a service you're performing for the government."  
  
She turned back to the front, then the van started and off we went.  
  
*****  
  
The drive was horribly long. We made stops, but at no time were we allowed to get out.  
  
Once we finally made the last stop, Renfro, Lydecker, and the SWAT wannabe got out of the van. Again we heard muffled voices, then the back doors to the van opened. It was dark; night. Instead of the one SWAT wannabe, there were now five, four with guns.  
  
"Cooperate and nothing will happen to you." Renfro said, then we were each helped out of the van by a SWAT wannabe.  
  
From what I could see in the dark, there was one large compound, with a guard tower on every corner; everything was fenced in. I had an idea that Manticore was not what it was made out to be.  
  
"You've got the instructions." Lydecker told the SWATs wannabes, then we were all separated.  
  
We were each taken down a long, plain hallway. I wasn't sure what the other hallways were like, but mine had lots of doors. Screams and growls came from almost every door, until we reached a corner. A door, with X-5 painted just above it, was our destination. The SWAT wannabe gently pushed me through the door, where I was met by two doctors and another SWAT.  
  
The doctors both grabbed one of my arms, then led me into the first door, marked 599.  
  
It was like a mini lab. They got me up onto a hospital bed and strapped me down. My hands and feet were both strapped; I wasn't going anywhere. After they had me secured, they hooked me up to a few machines and stuck a few tubes in my arms. Then one of the doctors undid my right foot restraint and took out what looked like a tattoo needle. The other doctor held my foot down as the first doctor painfully tattooed X-5 599 on the sole of my foot. After they were done, they secured my foot again and left the room. The SWAt waited a minute, then followed them. I was alone.  
  
*****  
  
After a little time and a lot of tears, the door opened and in walked Renfro. I tried to get up and maybe attack her, but I was strapped down too well.  
  
"I suppose you're wondering what project Manticore really is." She said.  
  
"Project Manticore?"  
  
"Well," Renfro said. "The government approached Donald and I -"  
  
"You're not really married, are you?" I asked. She just laughed.  
  
"Donald and I? Lord, no! That's just a scam to get kids off the streets and into Manticore." She said.  
  
"What's going on?"  
  
"I'm getting to that." She said. "Well, Manticore is a secret, government run operation. We're trying to create the perfect supersoldier. Think of it. Instead of sending in a thousand men and losing hundreds, we can send in a hundred and lose none."  
  
"They're just kids!"  
  
"They're not." Renfro said. "We've been putting vitamins in your food. By now, that baby of yours is stronger and smarter than you could imagine. And right now, you're getting even more precious nutrients to him."  
  
"So I'm just a part of some sick and twisted game?"  
  
"It isn't a game." She said. "It's a very serious matter. These babies will grow up in Manticore and become the perfect soldiers. It's a very serious matter that will benefit everyone. They will train from the minute they're born."  
  
"I want out!"  
  
"It's a little late for that." She told me. "It was too late the first second that you walked into the building. You were completely lost by the time you reached the fourth floor."  
  
"I won't let you have him!"  
  
"It isn't a choice." She told me. "Well, it is, but we're making it for you. I suggest you get comfortable. You're going to be here for a few more weeks."  
  
She smiled then left the room. She was right. I was there until the end.  
  
*****  
  
After a few weeks, it was time.  
  
The birth hadn't gone all that smoothly. The doctor told me not to fight it, it would only result in hurting both my child and I. I wanted to keep the baby now. I realized how wrong and stupid I was, but it was too late.  
  
After he was born and cleaned up, he was handed to Renfro. She looked into his eyes and what she said made my blood run cold.  
  
"You're the future."  
  
Renfro handed the baby to a nurse, then walked out of the room. I was then picked up by two SWATs and dragged out of the room screaming.  
  
"Zack!" Was the last thing I ever said to my child. His name. Not that he would remember it. He was so young, so little.  
  
The SWATs carried me to a side door and threw me out. Into the snow. They backed off as I sat up. Renfro appeared between them and looked down on me as I shivered.  
  
"If you say a word about Manticore, we'll track you down and kill you."  
  
I stood up and ran away as best as I could. I got to the edge of the forest, then fell into the snow and broke down crying. All I could utter through my sobs was my child's name.  
  
*****  
  
Now it's so many years after and I'm still regretting every minute. I wonder if he remembers me, or maybe his name. Renfro did say he was a superbaby... maybe, just maybe, he's out there. Living.  
  
The End 


End file.
